The QA Financial Forum: Chicago 2018

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UBS seeks to expand workforce in artificial intelligence

24 November 2017

UBS is recruiting for AI practitioners as the bank explores using the technology for risk management, fraud prevention and optimisation

UBS, the Swiss global financial service company, is expanding its workforce in artificial intelligence.

AI refers to technology capable of performing tasks that normally require human intelligence. Last year, UBS rolled out a “robo-advisor” that uses algorithms to help customers build and manage portfolios with little or no human interaction. AI technology is also being used across the industry to scour databases for insight on customers and markets that could help lenders stay competitive as more and more technology firms delve into financial services.

Veronica Lange, Head of Innovation at UBS, said “we’re currently recruiting more people for artificial intelligence, including data scientists, architects, business analysts. Artificial intelligence is a nascent technology in banking, and we are yet to grow the number of practitioners in the industry”.

Fraud prevention, optimisation and risk management are also areas where the technology could be applied, said Lange. “We’ve built up a pipeline of projects over the past few years. We believe it’s really fundamental, because the future is in the cognitive bank.”

AI is said to be one of the few areas in banking where demand for talent is growing. Nine financial service companies out of 10 are working with AI technologies, according to a survey by Deloitte LLP and the industry group EFMA. After questioning 3,000 executives in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, it identified scarcity of technical talent as one of their biggest challenges.

[Bloomberg]

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